Fish and Veggies Directly From Your Garden — Geco-Garden’s Aquaponic
« Recycle urban resources into fertilizers
Use the modern technology in a meaningful way
Turn customer into producer
Make people aware of the origin of their food.
Help society transition into a sustainable bioeconomy »
This is the vision of Bastian Winkler, a PhD student and founder of Geco-Gardens, a company which proposes urban gardening aquaponic setup to city dwellers.
Bastian knows the virtues of urban farming and through his research and trip, he learnt the different type of systems built around the globe.
From traditional allotment gardens shared in a neighbourhood, to vertical high-tech skyscraper farm and rooftop gardens in open air, Bastian became a specialist of the topic.
He came with the idea to create a small closed ecosystem based on the aquaponic technology. Aquaponic is a way to garden plants and raise fishes at the same time.
He explained us the process in details :
« In our system, we raise Tilapia. It is the most common aquaponic fish because it is easy to handle and to transport. The tilapias pee in water which is then going to irrigate and fertilize plants. Plant filters water and uses its micronutrient. Then the clean water comes back to the fishes. A pump powered by a solar panel ensures the constant flow of water »
This is the common aquaponic system. But Bastian and his team added something new.
« Between the Tilapias and the plants, there is an earthworm composting box. These composting earthworms are very hungry and can eat about 1.5 kg of your weekly dish waste. The earthworm leachate, also call worm tea, is then falling into the water and fertilize the plants.»
This system is closed and mimick the natural nutrient cycle. Your dish waste is directly used as a fertilizer. The system is autonomous and you don’t have to care that much about it.
« Feed the Tilapia, sometimes eat one of them, harvest your salads and veggies, and take the compost once a year. »
Geco-Gardens was crowfunded last October and now plans to bring a sustainable and sexy urban farming to the whole world. So if you want to help them check their website.